Top 10 beaches in Skiathos

Okay so I can’t say that any of Skiathos’ beaches are bad, they are all gorgeous! So what I’ve essentially done here is put my favourites in order of preference 🙂

1. Tsougria island
Alright so it’s technically  not Skiathos, but it’s just offshore so I feel like it counts. No one lives on Tsougria but there’s a beautiful beach with a taverna/bar. There is a ferry that takes people between the Old Harbour in Skiathos Town and Tsougria three times a day for about €5 for a return ticket.

2. Elias
Turquoise waters, white sands, and a bar looking out on it all under the palm trees. You can only get to Elias by car or by getting the bus to stop 23 and walking through the woods for about 15 mins. It’s totally worth it though, and the walk is actually pretty nice!

3. Lalaria

Now this beach (in the main pic) is unique and it’s probably the most famous on Skiathos. The beach is made up of pure white, smooth pepples, so make sure you take decent flipflops and don’t count on sunbathing on the beach as the pebbles aren’t the most comfortable. But it is beautiful and the archway rock formation – The Arch of Eternal Youth – is fun to swim under to (apparently) guarantee yourself a life with no wrinkles. If you’re a decent swimmer you can also swim under second arch hidden beneath the water where there are loads of fish! You’ll can only get to Lalaria by boat and I’d recommend going on a tour as it’s on the north side of the island which can be a bit too choppy for a small hired boat.

4. Koukanaries

Koukanaries is gorgeous – it’s a long stretch of fine, silky white sand with really warm and shallow waters. But it is the busiest beach on the island and not as tranquil as Elias or Tsougria. However, it does have watersports, which is a big draw for me! Koukanaries is the last bus stop – number 24.

5.  Kastros

I’m probably cheating a little putting Kastros on here as it’s not really the beach that I rate here. It’s a stoney beach and while the sea is as beautiful here as it is on the rest of the island, it alone is not worth the boat trip or drive. It’s the ruins across the cliff that overlook it that make this beach. It’s a bit of a steep climb up the cliff to get to it, but once you’re up there you can walk around the old ruins of the island’s former main town, and it’s a spectacular view. Katros is on the north side of the island and is only accessible by hiring a car or boat, or going on a boat trip which again I’d recommend.

6. Private Beach

I don’t even know if I’m allowed to put this on here, as when we went there we weren’t entirely sure if it actually belonged to the big house on the hill behind it… hence the Morgan family’s imaginative name of Private Beach! But anyway, this is a tiny little bay that we pulled up on when we hired a little boat. It’s just left along the coast of Kanapitsa beach (where we hired the boat from) and it’s lush! There are lots of little rockpools that are fun to snorkle in, and lovely golden sands to lay out on.

7. Kolios

My family and I stayed in Kolios several times – in the Hermes hotel. So Kolios was often our closest beach and where we spent a lot of time. It’s not the fine white sand here, but it’s still golden with that crystal clear turquoise water and it’s quiet and peaceful. You can access it from either bus stop 13 or 14.

8. Mandrake

Not just a weird baby plant from Harry Potter! Mandrake is just around the coast from Elias beach and is lovely, but not quite as stunning with golden rather than white sands so it doesn’t rate so highly. It’s unique in its own way though with red cliffs as the backdrop to the beach, so definitely worth a visit.

9. Troulos

Troulos beach is very similar to Koukanaries but smaller. It also has the benefit of Troulos being a small town with plenty of restaurants and bars, whereas most of the stops along the coast outside of Skiathos Town consist of a couple of restaurants or shops. So it’s a good place to stay too, but if you want proper night life stay in Skiathos Town. Bus stop 18!

10. Kanapitsa

I don’t especially rate this beach, although it’s just as nice as many of the others on the island. What makes it worth a visit are the watersports. They have all the same a Koukanaries, including paragliding and wakeboarding, although no jet skis, but at bus stop 12/13 it means from Skiathos Town you don’t have to travel so far to get chucked around by a speed boat.